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Plant World

Introduction and Historical Background

What are the general characteristics of a plant?

A plant is a multicellular, eukaryotic organism with cellulose-rich cell walls and chloroplasts, which has starch as the primary carbohydrate food reserve. Plants are primarily terrestrial, autotrophic (capable of making their own food) organisms. Most plants contain chlorophylls a and b and xanthophylls (yellow pigments) as well as carotenes (orange pigments).